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20TH ANNIVERSARY OF "8-8-88" MARKED

14 August 2008

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The 20th anniversary of the tragic Burmese uprising that resulted in the killing of an estimated 3,000 people, the exile of thousands, the jailing of hundreds, and deteriorating human rights and democracy was marked on 8 August in Burma and around the world.

On 8 August 1988 - popularly referred to as "8-8-88" - student-led protests peaked with millions of participants toppling long-time dictator Ne Win. But a new group of Burmese generals snatched power and crushed the protests

Anticipating anniversary protests on Burmese streets, the junta put a heavy military and police presence on every main road, ARTICLE 19 reported. The "Irrawaddy" reports that many Rangoon residents dressed in black to commemorate the anniversary but protests were limited. In North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, rallies demanded freedom. Amnesty International called on Burma to free all prisoners of conscience, and urged the United Nations to press for the release of 20 in particular.

After the 8-8-88 uprising, already restricted political space became even more limited in the military-ruled country, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) says in a special report. Along with thousands of activists and dissidents, journalists, writers, and artists face severe sanctions for works that displease the regime; about a dozen journalists and bloggers are currently in prison. Journalist and activist U Win Tin, now 79 and in failing health, last month marked his 19th straight year in prison.

SEAPA recalls Burma's long tradition of a free press, going back to its first newspaper in 1836. In 1873, King Mindon enacted what is believed to have been Southeast Asia's first indigenous press freedom law; he allowed journalists to report wrongdoings by the royal family, judges and mayors.

At independence from Britain in 1942, Burma had 39 newspapers. Burma expert Bertile Lintner says that "in the absence of any real political opposition, the newspapers functioned as public watchdogs."

But in 1962, General Ne Win seized power and the Burmese military has been consolidating control ever since. The 1962 Printers' and Publishers' Act - still in force - put all publications under a censor board. In 1966 the authorities banned private newspapers and stopped registering Chinese- and Indian-language newspapers. A 1975 "Memorandum to all Printers and Publishers" banned publication on a variety of topics.

After the 8-8-88 uprising, thousands of dissidents fled the country while the military arrested journalists and instituted widespread censorship.

Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly persist, amid the government's failure to contend with the range of rights-abusing laws that have been long used to criminalize free speech and prosecute dissidents.As part of the military's "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, where thousands of Rohingya Muslims face rampant and systemic human rights violations, the authorities denied independent journalists access to the region since early October.

An officer of the Myanmar army recently filed a criminal complaint against two journalists for allegedly sowing disunity among the military. Even though mediation by the Press Council caused the military to withdraw the case, this incident demonstrates how the military continues to throw its weight to get back at what it perceives as negative publicity.

The Broadcasting Law, approved in August, enabled private companies to enter the broadcast market for the first time. However, it maintains presidential control over the broadcasting sector, and the Broadcasting Council it established is susceptible to political interference.

The report surveys the rocky landscape for media and public discourse since the ruling military junta lifted the curtain on the southeast Asian nation in 2012 after five decades of isolation from the modern world.

As the election looms for later this year, incidents in 2014 and in early 2015 involving the press raises serious questions on the genuineness of media freedom in Burma. The situation is alarming as the state seems to have heaped all the faults and fines on the media in the past year, which has seen a media worker being killed in October on the pretext of national security. International assistance has poured into the country to develop the media aimed at lifting and sustaining the state of media freedom. However, a viable press freedom environment seems unlikely to materialise in Burma before the end of this administration.

There is some skepticism about how much influence Burma's youth movement can assert in terms of political change. Still, activists have benefited from greater access to the Internet, which has brought a new side to the online community after decades of heavy censorship

Burma is at a crossroads. The period of transition since 2010 has opened up the space for freedom of expression to an extent unpredicted by even the most optimistic in the country. Yet this space is highly contingent on a number of volatile factors.

The media landscape in Burma is more open than ever, as President Thein Sein releases imprisoned journalists and abolishes the former censorship regime. But many threats and obstacles to truly unfettered reporting remain, including restrictive laws held over from the previous military regime. The wider government’s commitment to a more open reporting environment is in doubt.

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